1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of golfing accessories and in particular to a device and method for marking the position of a golf ball.
2. Description of the Related Art
During a game of golf, there are several situations in which a player will temporarily remove his or her ball from the course. To help ensure accuracy, the player replaces the ball with some type of marker. A typical ball marker may consist simply of a coin-like body. More elaborately, the body of the marker may be made in any one of a wide variety of geometric shapes, such as polygonal or annular discs, with a pin attached to the bottom surface of the marker for securing it to the ground. The top surface of the body may display a design or writing that serves a decorative or owner identification purpose.
Often, removing and replacing a ball is straightforward, such as when a ball needs to be cleaned. In this situation, a player picks up his or her ball, places a marker to denote the ball""s location, and then replaces the ball when cleaning is finished.
While the design and structure of a typical marker is suitable for the simple replacement of a ball, it is not ideal for more complicated situations.
Such a situation exists when several golfers are on the same putting green. According to Rule 10-1 of the USGA rules, the golfer furthest from the hole is to putt first. However, sometimes another player""s ball is in his xe2x80x9cline of putt,xe2x80x9d that is, the path between the putting player""s ball and the cup. Placement of a marker where the fellow competitor""s ball lies is not allowed, because it would still constitute an impermissible obstruction in the line of putt.
Consequently, the intervening ball cannot simply be removed and replaced with a marker; the marker itself must be placed out of the putting player""s line of putt. This is accomplished by re-positioning the marker such that it is a certain number of xe2x80x9cclub-headsxe2x80x9d0 (i.e., the length of a potter) away from the original location of the ball. Then, when it is time to replace the ball, the golfer must move back or xe2x80x9cre-markxe2x80x9d the ball to its original location before putting (Rule 20-1). Failure to do so causes the offending player to incur a two-stroke penalty (Rule 5-1).
Given that there are several reasons why a golfer removes the ball and places a marker, a player sometime forgets that the golf ball must be re-positioned in certain situations prior to his next stroke. U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,282 by Stefonsky provides a two-piece golf ball position marking system that includes a marker and a separate repositioning aid. However, if one of the pieces becomes lost, this system no longer distinguishes between a ball that has simply been picked-up versus one that has been moved and needs to be re-marked. In other words, one would be left with either an ordinary marker or a re-positioning arrow. Moreover, this system does not provide a way to remind a golfer of the distance that a ball has been moved, and, therefore, the distance that it must be re-marked.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a simple, all-in-one means of marking a ball""s location and of selectively indicating that the position of the ball needs to be re-marked a predetermined distance before the player proceeds.
Most broadly, the invention meets the aforementioned need by providing a new method utilizing a device that simultaneously marks a ball""s location and displays to a golfer an indication of whether to replace the marker with the ball and proceed or to first re-mark the ball to another location.
Preferably, the device includes a first side having an indication to play a ball from where it lies, a second side having an indication to re-mark a ball to its former position before continuing play, and means of attaching either side firmly to the ground.
Also preferably, the device may include an indication of how many club heads of distance a player must re-mark his ball before proceeding and an arrow or arrowhead for pointing out the direction in which re-marking should occur.
An advantage of this invention is that it provides in a single device a way to either mark a ball""s actual location or to mark a temporary location with an indication to re-mark the ball.
A second advantage of this invention is that it combines a ball marker and position reminder with an indicator of re-mark distance and direction, thus minimizing the possibility of a penalty resulting from inaccurate ball placement.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a new golf ball marker and position reminder device and method.
Various other purposes and advantages of the invention will become clear from its description in the specification that follows and from the novel features particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Therefore, to the accomplishment of the objectives described above, this invention consists of the features hereinafter illustrated in the drawings, fully described in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments and particularly pointed out in the claims. However, such drawings and description disclose only some of the various ways in which the invention may be practiced.